The Shade of Nothingness
by ThatsMahKeyblade
Summary: When Sora, Kairi, and Riku are forced to leave the islands, they see something they've never seen before a person with no emotions or feelings. SoraxKairi, RikuxOC CANCELED
1. Can You Feel This?

**Author's Note:**Hey! This is ThatsMahKeyblade! But you can just call me Kitten, I guess. :D It's what all of my friends online call me, so yeah..

But this is my first fic (on this site that is), so try not to be too tough on me, okie dokie?

-ThatsMahKeyblade

**Disclaimer: **Sadly, I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

**Summary:** Sora and Riku have just returned home, and they had just gotten used to having the normal life back. But when problems hit the fan, Sora, Kairi, and Riku are forced to leave home again. On their travels, they meet someone who was different than anyone they have ever met before; this person had no emotions or feelings. **SoraxKairi RikuxOC**

**Authors Note Two: **Eh heh.. Sorry the summary isn't so clear, but if I went into detail, it'd give the plot away. So hopefully the summary will make sense soon.

The Shade of Nothingness Chapter One: 

**Can You Feel This?**

_Heaven._

This was surely what Sora thought was heaven. Being at home with Riku and Kairi, being able to eat his mom's cooking (it felt like forever since he was able to eat any of her great cooking that he missed for two years), and living a carefree life. 

Folding his arms lazily behind his head, Sora laid back on the comforting sand, and he only closed his eyes for what seemed like a second to him, but when he reopened him, he saw none other than Kairi. To him, she was more beautiful than anything he had ever seen before. Sure, he might have led Donald and Goofy to figure out his feelings towards the red head, but they hadn't said anything….Yet.

"Er….Sora?" Kairi questioned when she saw Sora blanking out on her again. A small smile was tugging at the edges of her lips, as she looked the boy over. She found it funny how her childhood friend would always be with her and Riku at one moment, but a moment later would be in la la land.

"Soraaaaa?" she tried again, waving a hand infront of his eyes, and then watched as they snapped back to attention and she giggled. "Being lazy again, are we?"

"No!" Sora quickly defended as he stood up to full height, nearly being a head taller than she is. "I was just….Waiting."

"Waiting for what?"

"Someone."

"Ooh, who's this someone?" Kairi pressed on, not bothering to hide her smile any longer.

'_You.'_ "I can't tell you," Sora said, and nearly grinned when he saw Kairi pout. To him it made her look even cuter.

"And why not?" Kairi asked, faking to be hurt by his actions.

"'Cause."

"'Cause, why?"

"'Cause, 'cause."

"Sora!"

"Alright!" Sora said, raising his palms in defeat. He bent his head downward in thought, before a mischievous smirk came to his face, and he lifted his head to see a confused Kairi.

"So?"

"So." Sora said, before he grinned, a grin Kairi knew too well. She put her hands on her hips in impatience.

"Stop avoiding the subject!"

"So you want to know?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes! Sora, tell me!" Kairi said, now stepping closer to Sora and looked him straight in the eyes, trying to see if she could find the answer there. She found nothing. But she did note a bit of red come to his face, and that made her smirk inwardly. Standing on her tiptoes so she was looking him straight in the eyes, she tilted her head.

"You know what you're in exact range for?" Sora asked, his grin only making Kairi confused even more. He managed to keep the snickering he felt inside him from coming out from Kairi being oblivious.

"What?" She asked, and, if possible, Sora's grin got wider.

"This," And Sora began to tickle the read head, who was now in a giggle fit, trying to keep from laughing. She wasn't surprised that Sora still remembered she was ticklish; he used to tickle her all the time when they were little.

After a few moments of the torture of tickling, Kairi had to use Sora for support to keep from falling. Her hands were gripped tightly on his shoulders for two reasons; that was the only place she was able to move her arms to at the moment, and, if she fell, he was going down with her.

Unfortunately for the both of them, Kairi's legs couldn't keep themselves up and gave out, making the two fall to the ground. It took a few moments for both of them to realize what was going on, before both of their faces were a shade of red.

"Er…" Sora began, rubbing his neck sheepishly as he got up from the red head, and single handedly pulled her off the ground. "Sorry about that, Kai."

"It's okay," Kairi said with a nod, before taking in a deep breath to calm herself down over what just happened. The scene kept replaying in her mind, and each time it did, her small smile grew a bit larger. She wished it last for more than just five seconds, but hey, five seconds is better than nothing.

The two teens turned around when they heard laughter, only to see Riku doubled over, clutching his stomach from laughing so much.

"You should've seen the look on both of your faces!" he exclaimed while laughing, ignoring his two friends' glares.

"Riku, how long were you here?" Sora asked while crossing his arms, before Riku straightened himself out and stood straight again.

"Not long."

"Seriously, Riku."

"Fine. A minute. And in that minute I saw all that I needed to see." A smirk was on Riku's face as he watched Sora and Kairi's faces turn red again. "Oh yeah, Sora?"

"What?" Sora asked, snapping to attention again, and the silver haired boy gestured him over.

Looking at Kairi with a shrug, Sora walked over to riku with a confused look on his face.

"Nice job," was all that Riku said and walked off, leaving a confused and aggravated Sora. He was about to take off after Riku when Kairi's voice made him stop.

"What was that about?" she asked, before Sora turned around, looked at her, and shrugged.

"Who knows. But hey, it's getting late. Why don't I walk you home?" Sora asked with a smile, and Kairi found herself not able to refuse. Smiling back, she walked over to him and nodded.

"Don't get us lost again," she said playfully, remembering the last time he offered to walk her home, and claimed that there was a shortcut. When they took it, they ended up getting lost, and when they found their way out, they were back where they first started.

Sora playfully pouted, before he gently shoved Kairi forward. "I know not to go that way, now!" he said in his defense, before he walked besides Kairi, who rolled her eyes playfully.

"Let me guess. You went that way again, didn't you."

"….Nope!"

"Sora…"

"Okay, fine I did! But Kairi, can I ask you something?" Sora asked while he turned his head to look at her.

"Sure." Kairi answered, looking back at him with a smile.

"Can you feel this?" Sora asked, poked her in the side, and received a giggle as she swatted his hand away. Grinning, he continued.

"How about this? This? What about this? Hey! S-stop!" Sora said, when Kairi decided to poke him back.

Kairi giggled at his reaction, "I think Sora has a ticklish spot, too." She said, before Sora shook his head.

"I do not!"

The whole walk home consisted of the two going back and forth with poking each other in the sides, and each time they did, the same question was asked.

_Can You Feel This?_

**Author's Note:**Whee, my first chapter! I like how this one turned out, even though I vaguely had an idea of how I wanted to end it. It may seem a little cheesy, but hey, I thought it was cute. If you can't tell (or didn't read the summary), this is a SoKai fic. So if you despise the couple, don't flip out on me, okay? Okay. This chapter had fluff, and later on there's gonna be even more. Yay fluff! So er… Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon, maybe some point today since I'm home alone. (My dad's in Canada, and my brother went to work.)

**Until Next Update!,**

ThatsMahKeyblade 


	2. Back To School, Back To School

**Author's Note: **Heh. I already have chapter two? Well…Yeah. There's nothing really to do here right now, so I'm updating. (That and Boa keeps nagging me to continue.)

But yeah. (I gotta stop saying that.) The plot isn't gonna kick in until either next chapter, or chapter four. So hang on, you people who are waiting for the adventure to kick in!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kingdom Hearts

Chapter Two: Back To School, Back To School

"Is he alive?" Came Kairi's confused voice as she continued to shake Sora, as she and Riku stood at his bedside.

"Who knows." Was Riku's only reply as he yanked the pillow from Sora's head, causing him to groan in annoyance as he reached about for his pillow. "You want your pillow, don't you Sora?"

"Yes." Came Sora's reply as he turned his head to open his eyes, before they widened when he saw his two best friends infront of him. "What are you guys doing here?!" He excalimed, sitting straight up in bed.

"Well, at least he's up." Riku said while Kairi giggled. "Now, Sora, don't you remember us telling you we had school today?" He asked in a father's tone, while the red head beside him covered her mouth to stifle her giggles.

"School? You've got to be kidding me." Sora groaned and plopped back in bed. "I don't wanna go."

"But you have to!" Kairi suddenly exclaimed, and Riku looked at her with an arched eyebrow.

Hearing her sudden outburst, Sora looked back at Kairi. "Okay, fine." He said, and Kairi grinned.

"Good. Well, see you downstairs!" With that, she dragged Riku out of the room, and closed the door behind them. Sora simply shook his head as he watched the two.

Forcing himself up from his bed, he changed into his uniform and continued the daily routine he did before he had gone to other worlds. When he got downstairs, a dazed smile came to his face as the scent of his favorite breakfast came to his nose; eggs and bacon. Immediately he hurried down the stairs, and sat down in his seat, diving into the meal. He ignored the weird looks Riku and Kairi gave him.

"He just started, and he's already halfway done." Kairi commented aloud, shaking her head. Sora looked up at her and grinned.

"Not my fault." He said with a mouth half filled with food, and Kairi made a face and looked away.

"Alright, kids, you better get going!" Sora's mother's voice rang from the other side of the house.

"Okay, mom!" Sora called back, before he put on his shoes and followed his friends, who were already halfway down his driveway. "You know you guys could give a warning."

"We could, but then how would we get you out of the house? You'd make excuses." Kairi said, and Riku nodded in agreement.

"Would not!" Sora defended, before his eyes widened as a all too familiar figure was running towards them. "Oh no."

"'Oh no' what?" Riku asked, before looking in the direction of where Sora was looking, and his eyes widened aswell.

Kairi laughed, "You guys are on your own!" She said, and watched as a hyperactive teen ran over and threw herself on Sora and Riku, trapping them in a tight embrace.

"Sora! Riku!" Selphie exclaimed, not letting either of them go despite their attempts. "Where have you guys been for the last two years?!"

"Visting relatives." Riku said simply, before he finally gave in and hugged the girl back to make her let go.

"For two years?"

"Sure. They all lived far apart."

"Oh! That makes sense." Selphie said as she pulled away and nodded in understanding. Kairi snickered slightly at he friends stupidity. Selphie could never tell when someone was lying, she was that oblivious. "So, what classes do you guys have?"

"Er, Selph," Kairi said as she put her arm around her friend's shoulder. "We have to go get their schedule. They just got back, remember?"

"Right, right. Sorry." Selphie said and nodded, but there was a smile on her face anyway; a look Kairi also knew too well.

"Does that goofy smile on your face have anything to do with Tidus?"

"W-What? N-No!" Selphie defended quickly, and Sora, Riku, and Kairi laughed.

"Don't worry, we won't make fun of you. Just Tidus." Sora said with a nod, and received a smile from Selphie as she hugged him again. "Ohhh, thank you, thank you!"

"…Er… You're welcome."

In The Building…

Sora, Kairi, Riku, and Selphie walked into the building, only to find crowded hallways. While Sora and Riku gaped at the large number of people, Kairi and Selphie had continued their way to the office. A moment later the two realized they were being left behind, and quickly followed after the two girls.

Within minutes the teenage girls had their schedules, and were comparing with theirs. Each of them had grins on their faces.

'_That has to mean something good.' _Sora thought to himself while he watched Kairi give them their schedules.

"So?" Riku asked in impatience, wanting to know why the two were smiling impishly.

"We're practically in every class together." Kairi said.

"Except you guys are in different homerooms than us." Selphie said. "Other than that, we have every day together!"

Sora could've swron he felt something go off in his heart, since it was now thumping against his chest hardly. "Seriously?"

"Yep!" The two girls exclaimed in unison. Freaky.

"Well, might aswell go to homeroom so we're not late. See you two next period." Riku said, as he waved to the girls, before dragging the dazed Sora behind him. "Happy are we?"

"Yeah…."

"So what are we going to do in homeroom?"

"Yeah…."

"Sora!"

"Huh?" Sora asked, snapping back to attention as Riku only shook his head.

"I asked, what are we going to do in homeroom?"

"I'unno. Sit there?" Sora stated like a question, before Riku chuckled.

"You just want it to go by fast so you can sit by Kairi, don't you?" As soon as he said it, he sped up a bit to avoid the now annoyed Sora as the two raced to homeroom, one trying to catch one, as the other, was avoiding him.

First Period

As usual, Sora and Riku sat in the back of the classroom. They hated being in the front, That meant being close to the teacher. And being close to the teacher meant you get picked on for questions when it was obvious you weren'' paying attention. In the back, you can pretty much always get away with that.

When Kairi and Selphie came into the room, Sora waved his arms around to get their attention, before Selphie dragged Kairi to the back of the room, and made her sit in the empty seat beside Sora, and then sat down beside her.

Kairi looked at Selphie, who gave her a look that said 'I-know-you-want-to-sit-there'. Sighing in defeat, Kairi leaned back in her seat and looked forward, unaware of Sora's gaze on her.

Sora was watching Kairi with a confused expression on his face, before it turned into a worried one. He was beginning to think that maybe he shouldn't have sat in the back.

Kairi finally looked to him and smiled, and he smiled back. It was amazing how that girl could make all of his doubts go away with just one smile.

"Okay, class, let's get started!" The teacher announced to the class, and Sora groaned inwardly.

Hello, new school year.

Gym Class

"C'mon guys, let's pick up the pace!" The gym teacher shouted to the students who were lagging, which was pretty much the whole class except for Sora and Riku.

"Are they seriously that tired?" Sora asked while looking over his shoulder. "This is nothing compared to running around the other worlds."

"That's because they have no idea what that's like. Sure, if they've done it a couple of times, they'd be right up here with us." Riku said, as they continued their 'steady pace' around the track. To normal people, it'd look like they were running as fast as they could, and are never getting tired.

Sora shrugged, before he looked over to the field that was next to the track, and saw Kairi and Selphie watching them. Waving, Kairi smiled, before she waved back.

On The Field

"You like him." Selphie said to Kairi while stretching.

"What are you talking about?" Kairi asked, acting like she had no idea what Selphie was talking about, even though she was sure she did.

"Sora!" Selphie said in a whisper so no one would hear her. "It's obvious you do. I just don't think you know it.

"What?"

"Kairi, come on. It's really obvious. You both act so much different to each other than you do to any other person." Selphie said, and couldn't help but smile in satisfaction as she saw Kairi go into thought.

"Is….Is it really that obvious?"

"Okay, girls, enough stretching! I want ten laps. So start jogging!"

With that, the two girls, with the rest of their class, went up to the track and ran it, and just like Sora and Riku, were way ahead of everyone in the class.

Walking Home

"Well, here's where I have to go." Selphie said sadly as she looked at the trio infront of her.

"Aww, don't worry, Selph, we'll see you tomorrow!" Kairi reassured, and Selphie's expression brightened.

"Alright! See you guys tomorrow, then!" She declared, as she skipped the rest of the way to her house, leaving the three to shake their heads.

"Well, since we have nothing to do, why don't we all go to the Island?" Kairi suggested, as Sora and Riku nodded in agreement.

"Sounds good to me."

"But can we at least change?" Sora asked, who was attempting to undo his tie. "I want to get out of this stupid thing.

Laughing, Kairi walked over to Sora and started to undo his tie, before grunting in frustration. "Sora, you made the knot too tight." She lightly scolded, before Sora chuckled nervously.

"Sorry."

Smiling, Kairi looked up at him. "You don't have to be sorry. Just don't pull at it so much." Finally, she got it undone, and looked at Riku who was watching them with a look of interest on his face.

"Riku?"

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing?"

"Watching you two have a moment." Riku said simply, before Kairi whacked him with Sora's tie.

"Just meet us at the island."

On The Island

Kairi sighed contently as she laid back in the sand. Now she couldn't blame Sora for always falling asleep here. It was really comfortable. She was the first one to get here, and was now waiting for Sora and Riku to arrive. Usually it was vice versa, but that doesn't really matter.

"Oh, now who's lazy?" Sora asked while Kairi sat up, grinning at him.

"Still you."

Pouting, Sora sat down next to her. "At least it wasn't me laying down this time." He said, as he put his hands behind him for support.

"Yeah, yeah. But knowing you, it'll be you tomorrow." Kairi said while laughing slightly as Sora's expression changed.

"So what if it is?"

"Okay, if you both could please stop talking to each other and actually notice me for a moment, I'd greatly appreciate it." Riku said in a teasing tone as he watched both of his friends look at him, before they each grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry, Riku." Sora said as he stood up, before looking at Kairi, then back at Riku.

"I knew that you two'd be chatting merrily with yourselves, so I got you a present." Riku said, a smirk gracing his lips.

"Present? What for?" Kairi asked as she stood up, a look of curiosit now on her face.

"Nothing special."

"Then why'd you get us a present."

"'Cause."

"'Cause, 'cause?" Sora asked while grinning, before Kairi rolled her eyes.

"Just give us the present."

A few moments later…

"WHAT?!" Sora and Kairi yelled in unison, as they let Riku finish the story.

"So I get to go with you guys on an adventure?!" Kairi asked in an excited tone, while Sora on the other hand, looked miserable.

"She gets to come with us on an adventure….?"

End Of Chapter Two 

**Author's Note:**Hehe. Cliff hanger… Sort of. But… Yeah. I had fun writing this chapter. I know I didn't write out the whole school day, but I did the first class. If you haven't figured out already, the next chapter is where the adventure starts. (Enter applause here.) So, that's where the fun starts. And if you're wondering when the **real** Sora and Kairi fluff starts, well, I'll ell you it starts in Atlantica. But I **won't **tell you when Atlantica starts until I get to it. So HA!

Well, until next update!

-**ThatsMahKeyblade**


	3. Training

Chapter Three: Training

**Author's Note:**Well. If you haven't noticed, me trying to make the scene changes noticable isn't really working. So, until I figure out how I an get it to actually work, you'll see some mess ups in scene changing.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kingdom Hearts

**Training**

"Yes, Kairi gets to come with us on an adventure." Riku said in response to both Sora and Kairi's questions, even though Sora wished what he was saying wasn't the truth. He really, really didn't want Kairi to come with them. She could get hurt, or even worse, killed. If that ever happened, Sora didn't know what he'd do with himself.

Kairi on the other hand was happy as ever. She was finally able to go on an adventure, and not be left behind. It was wonderful! Her smile slowly faded as she remembered something.

"But… How am I supposed to fight?"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"No, Kairi, you're holding it wrong." Sora said to Kairi as she was holding her flowery keyblade the wrong way. Taking hold of her keyblade he turned it, and then put it back in her hands.

"But that feels weird." Kairi said while looking down at the way she was holding it."

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

Why Sora was stuck with training Kairi was beyond him. Well, he didn't mind, but he was figuring it was Riku's way of getting them together, or something like that. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he looked toKairi who was waiting patiently for his instructions.

"Er.. Right. Okay. Say, this is a Heartless," he said while taking a coconut out of the pile of ones he collected for training. "and it jumps at you. What is the first thing you do?" After he asked it, he tossed the coconut towards Kairi, who skillfully whacked it away. "Okay, that was good. But what if there was, oh, I dunno… Two?" Picking up two, he tossed them again and Kairi repeated the process, only this time she spun so she hit one coconut so it went sailing into the other one, and they both landed a safe distance away; like hitting two birds with one stone.

"Sora," Kairi said while putting her weapon on her shoulder. "I already know how to do this stuff. What I meant by fighting was like.." she paused, trying to figure out the exact meaning of what she meant. "Like magic."

"Magic?" Sora repeated, while he put his hand under his chin, before he nodded slightly. "Okay, I guess we can try something simple."

Kairi grinned at him, before nodding. "So what one are we gonna try?"

Sora pondered about this for a moment. "Well, let's try fire. That was the easiest for me, personally." He looked at Kairi as she nodded in agreement, before he stood beside her. "Just so you know, the first time you use magic can be hard, so if you feel lightheaded, just fall. I'll catch you." He reassured, and she nodded again.

"Okay."

"Alright then. Fire… Well… What does fire mean to you?" Sora asked, looking at Kairi as a lightbulb went off in her head.

"So I just have to think what fire means, and then focus it to the keyblade?" She asked, and Sora nodded with a grin.

"Bingo."

"Okay, I'll try."

Closing her eyes in concentration, Kairi pointed her blade to the sand a little ways away from them, so it wouldn't catch on fire, and neither of them would get burned. After a few moments of thinking of what she said only moments before, a strong sensation came over her, and then a small bit of fire came from the tip of her blade. It didn't last long though, because Kairi wasn't used to this much energy being drained from her, and she let herself fall into Sora. She looked up at him with a weak grin.

"Almost had it."

"It's okay, Kai, you'll get it." Sora reassured, and Kairi nodded slightly, and leaned into Sora more. She had to admit, she liked the feeling of Sora's arms around her. It made her feel safe.

"Sora?"

"Yeah?"

"…Thanks."

**Author's Note:**Whee! Fluff! Yeah, I know this chapter's short, but it's just a filler for next chapter. And.. I wanted to add it 'cause it had fluff in it. (Insert grin here) So yeah.. Next chapter the adventure actually starts. It just hit me that Kairi needed to know how to fight, so that's how I came up with this idea. But, I'll tell you what the first world is for next chapter. It's **Port Royal**. No, don't consider that as a spoiler. I was gonna tell you guys anyway…xD So, the adventure starts next chapter!

Unitl next update,

**ThatsMahKeyblade**


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